Apparatus for displaying rugs and the like



July 21, 1931. J. N; HARRIS 1,815,311

APPARATUS FOR DISPLAYING RUGS AND THE LIKE Filed Nov. 9. 1929 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

July 21, 19 31. J. N. HARRIS APPARATI IS FOR DISPLAYING HUGS-AND THE LIKE Filed Nov. 9. 1929 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEi S.

Patented July 21, 1931 Arreizarus For: BrsrLeYii re Rod's em) tiim appacatidafiiea November 9, '19-'29. seriarivo. 465,911

The primary object ofmy inventioiris to provide an apparatus for showing or displaying'fioor rugs. However, my invention can be used for showing draperies, linens, and

other like fleziib'le articles as Well,-as will be observed. p p v The nature of my invention will be understood from the accompanying drawings and the following descriptioi-i of a machine embodying it. In'the accompanying drawings:

F ig. 1 is a vertical section of the machine,

shown in perspective in Fig.6, and about on the line II of Fig. 2. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the working-apparatus, the case or cabinet containing the same being in section. Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail, showing one rug being taken away from display position and another brought into view. Fig. 4 is a detail on line IVIV of Fig. 3. Fig.

5 is a sectional detail on line V-V of Fig. 1. Fig. 6 is a perspective of the machine, show ing a rug at rest on display at the window in the case or cabinet thereof. v I

. For the smaller floor rugs at least, the

working parts of the apparatuscan be con-- veniently enclosed in a case or cabinet 1, through a window 2 of which the rugs are shown successively, as illustratedin Fig. '6.

, A number of carrier rods 5uare provided,

usually one for each rug of the stack orgroup to be efzhibited; these carrier rods may be solid or hollow, and each is or somewhat greater length-than the length or breadth of the rugsfi-to. be shown; with relatively long rods and short or narrow rugs however, each rod may serve for two or more rugs. The rugs are hung from these rods. Metal straps 7, encircling the rods in individual circumferential grooves 8 and having their, ends fastened to the rugs by pi'ns or removable rivets 9, are suitable and -convenient means for hanging the rugs on the rods. Longer rugs may be folded over the rods. A pair of spaced-elongated supports 12, on which the two' ends of each of the rods rest, support the group of carrier rods 5 at such ahight above the floor that the rugs 6, hanging-downwardly between the supports 12,'are substan ti'allv suspended from the rods as'illustrated in Figs. 2, s and e. The rods, with their rugs are to travel towardthe frontor window 2 'onthese supports as the foremost rods and rugs are removed successively, For-this purpose, the supportsl2, in the form big-rails, are preferably inclined toward the'fron'tbr window 2, so that gravity may move thero'd's and rugs in the desireddirectioii, the ends of the rods sliding or rolling on the rails; Thelatter may be carried suitable flb'rackets, suchas 13 for example, hung onthegwaus o fthecaseor cabinet l. If desired, further supporting rails 14 for the 'rdd's mayhe' 10- cated farther from the endsof the irodjs and these can be carried by extensions -fro'm the previously described bracket or bracket-$.15 carried bythe rails 12. Stops, such as the steps 18, one at the lowergend ofeaclro'f the rails 14, prevent the rods rolling or sliding of} the lower ends of the rails. -The rails, or the ends of the rods engaging with the rails, may or may-not be provided with anti-trim tio-n devices to promote ready movelnient of the rods along" the rails; for small rugs ajt least the bare round ends of the rods seem suflicient. Tlhe mg on the 1-edwhi1ris for the moment the lowest or roremost, is the rug on display, and in su'ch acabi'net as here illustrated is seen'through the window 2:; t'l'1'e remainder are concealed behi'n'd this rug; on display '(Fign 6). Placed substantially above the rails 12 and hence rather close to the ,g'rou'p or carrier rodsiaanothersu'p ofit or sa port for the rods eitends 01" extend from the loweren'dsofthe'rails 1 2'to beyond theupperendsiofth'e sameias shown particu-. ally in Fig. 1. Like 12, .thissi'ipporting 'de vice or mechanism maybe a pair c t-spaced rails 20, and they may be carried by brack ets on" the side walls of case 1. From the lower ends of the rails 12 and 14, a pairof belts 19,,of equal lengths and preferably chain belts, successively transfei the lower: most or foremost carrier rod to the support or supports 20, and thereon convey it to the rear with its rug trailing behind it. 'The belts move in the direction of the arro'w'ze in Fig. To, enga'g 'e the rods,',ea ch belt is provided with a projecting member '21, rigidly fixed to the belt in projectii' 'g ;p'osi tionythe twdmembers 21are arranged op posite each other 2), and each consists of a pair of long and short fingers. As the movement of the belts brings this pair of members to the foremost or lowermost rod, the long fingers of these members pick up the two ends of that rod simultaneously and deposit them on the lower end of the supports 20. It will be observed that the upper finger of each member 21 is shortened so as to pass the foremost carrier rod 5 (Fig. 2), while the lower finger is long enough to engage underneath this foremost carrier rod and lift it on to the supports 20; each member 21 receives the rod between its fingers therefore. The lower ends of the two upper supports or rails 20 may be bent downwardly as indicated at- 24 to receive the ends of the rods almost as soon 'as they leave the rails 12 and retain the rods between the fingers as the finger members 21 turn it face downwardly in passing over the pulleys or sprockets 25 (Fig. 3). One of these pulleys or sprockets 25 is provided for each chain belt near the lower ends of the adjacent rails 12 and 20, as appears in Fig. 1, while another pulley or sprocket 26 is provided near the upper end of each rail 20. Each belt 19 passes directly from pulley 25 to pulley 26 at the same side of the apparatus, and these two pulleys are so placed that the upper runs of the belts 19 (i. e. from 25 to 26) are substantially parallel to the upper rails 20, and everywhere are so close to these upper rails that these rails retain the rods in the finger members 21, as shown in Fig. 3, until the latter begin to pass around the pulleys or sprockets 26. Hence the belts 19, moving in the direction of the arrow 23 (and the two belts travelling at equal speeds) not only serve to lift the rod on to the upper supporting rails or members 20, but also to slide or roll the carrier rods up these rails 20 to the sprockets 26. As shown in Figs. 1 and 3, the pulleys or sprockets 25 are so located preferably, that the line of their axes passes very close to the lower ends of the rails 14; these sprockets themselves then, or the tension on the belts in passing around these sprockets, serve to hold the members 21 with their fingers projecting properly to lift the rods from the lower to the upper rails. Chain guides 29 and 30, on brackets fastened to the cabinets walls, may be provided on both sides of these runs of the belts to hold the same against flexing by gravity or under the strain of dragging the rod and its rug along the rails 20, the upper of these guides serving particularly to hold the members 21 depressed in contact with the rod they are at the moment moving along these rails. The rug attached to the particular rod 5 being moved on these upper rails 20, flexes as inclicated in Fig. 3, and trails behind its rod; if nothing on which this rug may slide is provided above the group of rods 5 left on the lower rails 12, the rug is simply pulled directly across these rods.

From the pulleys 26, the carrier rods 5 and their rugs are to be replaced on the upper ends of the lower rails 12, behind the rods and rugs remaining on the lower rails. In order to pull each rug around the line of the axes of the sprockets 26, or at least to pull them far enough around the line of these axes for the trailing ends of the rugs to fall by their own weight below their respective rods again, I run the belts 19 more or less downwardly from 26 and then upwardly to the rear ends of the rails 12. Thus as the carrier rods 5 reach the pulleys 26, they are carried from thence downwardly to the pulleys or sprockets 31. In these downward runs of the belts, the belts are held against flexing by the vertical guides 32 and 33, which also are carried from the side walls of the case or cabinet 1 by brackets. From the pulleys 31, the belts run upwardly to the pulleys or sprockets 34 for the delivery of the bars 011 to the rails 12 and 14; similar guide plates 35 and 36 hold these up wardly-traveling runs of the belts against flexing. Rod-guiding plates 38, mounted like the other guide plates are arranged to receive, against their vertical rear edges 37, the carrier rods 5 as the latter pass over the pulleys or sprockets 26 and hold the rods against escape from between the finger members 21 as the latter draw the rods down toward 31; in Fig. 1, this rear edge 37 lies directly behind the lefthand run of the belt 39, but is shown in Fig. 5. Adjacent the pulleys 26, a guide 40 may be provided for the rugs themselves around which they will turn downwardly; this maybe simply the aXle on which the pulleys 26 are mounted, or a larger guide may be used for the heavier and larger rugs. As the rod 5 is drawn downwardly therefore, it draws its rug behind it around 40, until (either before or after the rod passes around the pulleys 31) so much of the rug has passed around the turning point 40 that it falls by its own weight. The belts 39, mounted on pulleys on axles 40 and 42 (the latter being the mouning for pulleys 31) serve as guides to assure that the falling end of the rug falls rearwardly, thatis to say, in a direction away from the lower ends of the rails 14. The forward edge 41 of guide plate 38 is so placed as to receive the rod as the latter passes around the axis of pulleys 31 and confine the rod in the fingermembers 21 in the upward runs of the belts 19, and until these finger members turn to face upwardly in passing around the sprocket 34. The manner in which the guide plate 38 confines the rod ends in the finger members 21 is illustrated in the lower lefthand portion of Fig. 1.

As the pair of finger members 21 passes over the sprockets 34 and turns downwardly, the rod 5 between their fingers is permitted to slide or roll out of the fingers. These pulleys or sprocketsbi'are located with their axes near the rear (or lefthand) ends of the rails 12 and 14, and at such an'elevation that the rods 5, in passing out from between the fingers of 21,'slide or roll on to the rear ends of these rails. From thence each carrier rod slides or rolls down the rails until stopped by the carrier rods ahead of them. The rug' attached to the carrier rod thus replaced on the rail again becomes one of the group awaiting showing at the lower ends of the rails; The belts 19 continuing their travel in the direction of the arrow 23, the pair of finger members 21, now einpty,-are again brought to-the lower ends of the rails 12, and the action just described is then repeated on the next rug, this second rug being taken away and replaced on the rails 12 and 1 behind all the rest, While the third rug is being shown through the window. Obviously continued repetitions of these operations will bring every rug to displayed position in its turn, and obviously the whole group of rugs may be run through as many times as desired.

lVh-i le 'Ihave described the use of but one pair of finger members 21, it will be obvious that more than one pair may be employed if the belts 1 9 are sufficiently long. If, for example, each belt is a little more than twice the length of the longest rug, two pairs of members 21 may be used, these acting on alternate rugs.

Individual idler pulleys or sprockets 45, one for each chain belt, are mounted on adjustable slides 6 to permit ten'sionin'g of the belts as desired.

As before stated, the two belts 19 are to be driven at equal speeds. For this purpose, both the pulleys 26 are fastened to the shaft 40, which is made the driving shaft. lreferably, I arrange to drive the apparatus electrically and, for this purpose, I have pro vided an electric motor L5, which acts through a speedreducing mechanism &6 and chain belt i? to drive the shaft 40 as illustrated. Preferably I interpose a friction or slip clutch 43 between the shaft 40 and the sprocket thereon driven by the chain belt 47, to prevent damage in the event that the free movement of one of the belts 19 is interfered with; this limits to asafe value by the operator pushing in the sliding bar 1 a spring 51 tends to pull this sliding 5O outwardly again and hence open a switch to stop the motor, but a hook 52, acting under the pull of the spring 53, ordinarily holds the sliding bar 50 in switch-closed position whenv once placed in that position. The projecting end 54 of'the hook 52 is so placed inthe path of the finger member or members 210f the adjacent belt 19however, that when a pair of these fingermembers approach the lower ends of the rails 12 and Mi-to pick up a carrier rod5, the'projjecting end'5et of the hook 52 is struck and raised against the pull of the spring 53 (the hook 52 turning on the pin This lets the spring 51 act to :pull the rod 50 towards the right in F 1 and open the motor circuit, stopping the movemen't'of the belts 19. WV-hen the operator desires to take away the rug which is on display for the moment, to show the one behind it, he simply pushes the sliding rod 50 inwardly again, If the operator desires the machine to operate continuously, taking away'the foremost rugs one'after the other without attention on his part, he turns the button "56 while the'sl idingrodfl) is in its sw-i tch c'losing position. This engages the inner b 3t end of 57 in the notch of bar 50.

Obviously lifting of the latch 52 does not serve to open the switch so long as the button is in this notch. An upper sliding bar 58,

or thelike to rest at their ends on said supports, said supports being located at such'a height that the said articles carried by the rods can be substantialiy'suspended from'thfe rods, "supporting means for the'rods located immediately above said pair of elon ated sup ports and extending from substantially one end'of eachof said pairof supports to substantially the opposite end thereof, a pair of beltsrespecti'vely a'djacent-said'pair ofsup- I ports for successively transferring the foremost-ofsaidc'arrier rods from said-pair ofsupports to said supporting means, moving the same, supported by the latter, to adjacent the opposite ends of said pair of supports, and there replacing the carrier rods on the pair of supports, and pulleys supporting said belts, includinga pair of pulleys the line of the axes of which passes close to those ends offsaid elongatedsupports from which the carrier rods are transferred' to said supporting means. i

' 2. In an apparatus for displaying articles such as rugs and the like, a p'air of spaced parallel'rails, a plurality of carrierrods for the articles to rest at their ends on sai'drails,

said rails being located at such a height that the articles carried thereby can be substan tially suspended from the rods and being inclined so as to cause the rods to move thereon toward one end of the rails, supporting means for the'rods located above said rails, a pair of belts located respectively adjacent the rails to successively transfer the carrier rod at the lower ends of the rails to said sup porting means, move the same, supported by said means, toward a position above the upper ends of the rails, then move the carrier rods downwardly, and replace the rods on the rails at the upper ends thereof, an electric motor to drive the belts at equal speeds in the direction indicated, a switch to start and stop the motor, and means on one of said belts to open the switch to stop the motor. a i

3. The subject matter of claim 2, characterized by the fact that manually operable means are provided to maintain the switch closed.

4. The subject matter of claim 2, char acterized by the fact that manually operable means are provided to stop the driving of the belts at will.

5. The subject matter of claim 2, characterized by the fact that manually operable means are provided to open the mentioned switch at will.

6. In an apparatus for displaying articles such as rugs and the like, a pair of spaced parallel rails, a plurality of carrier rods for the articles to rest at their ends on said rails, said rails being located at such a height that the articles carried thereby can be substantially suspended from the rods and being inclined so as to cause the rods to move thereon toward one end of the rails, supporting means for the rods located above said rails, a pair of belts located respectively adjacent the rails to successively transfer the carrier red at the lower ends of the rails to said supporting means, move the same,

supported'by said means, to a position somewhat above and beyond thenpper ends of the rails, then move the carrier rods downwardfor the rods located above said rails, a pair of belts located respectively adjacent the rails to successively transfer the carrier rod at the lower ends of therrails to said supporting means, move the same, supported by said means, toward a position above the upper ends of the rails, then move the carrier rods downwardly to a position lower than the upper ends of the rails, and then upwardly to replace the rods on the rails at the upper ends thereof, and belt guides to hold the belts against flexing at said downward and upward runs thereof.

8. In an apparatus for displaying articles such as rugs and the like, a pair of spaced parallel rails, a plurality of carrier rods for the articles to rest at their ends on said rails, said rails being located at such a height that the articles carried thereby can be substantially suspended from the rods and being inclined so as to cause the rods to move thereon towards one end of the rails, supporting means for rods located above said pair of rails and extending from substantially one end of each of said rails to substantially the opposite end thereof, a pair of belts located respectively adjacent the rails to successively transfer the carrier rod at the lower ends of the rails to said supporting means, move the same, supported by said means, to a position 1y to a position lower than that of the up-- per ends of the rails, and then upwardlyto replace the rods on the rails at the upper ends thereof, and means to assure that the falling ends of the articles fall in a direction away. from the lower ends of said rails as the rticles 7 follow their carrier. rods in said downward movement.

7. In an apparatus for displaying articles such as rugs and the like, a pair of spaced parallel rails, a plurality of carrier rods for the articles to rest at their ends on said rails, said rails being located at such a height that the articles carried thereby can be substantially suspended from the rods and being in clined so as to cause the rods to move thereon toward one end of the rail s,supporting means 

